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My 4870 has died....

Vimes

Vimes

Vimes

Soldato
Joined
15 Oct 2005
Posts
6,808
Location
Earth, for now
Hi

My 2 weeks old Sapphire 4870 has finally died. It has, over the last fortnight, been causing problems just like this person has experienced...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NImhGgDLQYo

Any game would randomly lock up resulting in a black screen, the only way to resolve it would be to reset the PC.

it doesn't seem as though I'm the only one who has been having such a problem after reading the comments.

I found the link after reading through the tech support forums at Rage3D...

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33930424

Mine now will not even post, showing only the two red outer lights lit :(

I really wanted this card to work and I'm a little dubious about getting another one, even another brand of the 4870 range, then again I would have to dig deep to buy a 280, although maybe a 260 would do at 1680x1050..?

I bought my 4870 from a local supplier, not OC, so off I go tomorrow for a refund and then it will be what I decide to buy next.

oh hum...!
 
Just get another one you have to remember there was lots of 4870's sold so there were bound to be some unlucky people. You would have to be very unlucky to get another faulty card. If you read these forums you will see that theres plenty more people happy with there 4870 than people unhappy with the card. gtx260 is an inferior card to the 4870 not by much but it is.
 
8800gt had all the same kind of issues due to being so popular. People are always gonna have some issues but they are the minority. The ultimate factor is look at what nvidia had to do with there prices to keep up with ati its pretty much unheard off nvidias flagship card being at such a low price its all down to how good ati's cards perform at there price range the gtx260 is now cheaper than the 4870 when on release it was around 60 pound more expensive maybe more.
 
Are you sure it's not your power supply ? are you able to test your psu on another rig ?
 
I would doubt that my PSU could have been a problem.
At the moment I have 1 HD and 1 Optical drive
The PSU is an Enermax 650w and is more than capable of supplying the Graphics cards needs.
I did try the latest beta of ATT and used that to create a dynamic profile for my fan settings.
It made no difference with ATT used or not.
It made no difference on changing to my other hard drive, which had Vista on it, rather than XP.
All latest drivers applied and a fresh OS install, in both cases.

Before the card failed I did try it in my wifes PC and the results were the same as the youtube vid posted.

http://forums.*****.net/help-techni...een-high-fan-rpm-problem-anyone-else-had.html

Doing a Google on 4870 and black screens displays quite a few hits similar to the problem that I have had, as well as those links above. Whilst I appreciate that the 4870 is a superb card, and I have been using PC components long enough to understand that what I have read in the above links aren't necessarily indicative of a common type of problem it is one that makes me wary of just changing the card for another without some deliberation.
 
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2 red leds sounds like a power supply not able to supply the required boot up power
 
AFAIK....

HD4850 LEDs

D1601 - Over temp protection enabled

D1602 - EXT 12V fault


HD4870 LEDs

D1601 - Red LED On, shows critical temperature fault

D1602 - Red LED On, shows External power connector A was removed

D1603 - Red LED On, shows External power connector B was removed

D601 - Red LED On, shows critical Core power fault
 
Thats unlucky but just take it back and they will give you another brand new one.

Might be worth trying it in your PC with no HD or optical drive connected to see if it is PSU related as some PSU's can fade & cause issues as well.

4870 is better than GTX260 & even matches and beats in some games a GTX280 when you use 8xAA so you are not going to get a better card unless you pay a lot more money.

My advice to anyone is do not overclock these cards unless you have a better HSF as they do get very hot & I reckon ATI are pushing it on the stock HSF as it is with stock clocks.
 
I am leaning towards another 4870, it is just too much to justify the cost of a 280, and I tend to agree on advising caution on overclocking these cards. Although mine wasn't overclocked I am amazed at how much heat they produce.

I take your point on the PSU, although the problem was replicated on my wifes machine.
 
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Have you tried your power supply on your wifes machine though ? my 4850 had 2 red leds wouldn't boot turned out it was my hx520 was dead or unable to still produce the required amperage.
To me black screens when the card gets put under load shouts inadequate power.
 
All the 4870 are pretty much the same, All made by AMD. As for 280 GTX there dieing more than all the 4850/4870/4870x2 put togther.
 
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Vimes said:
AFAIK....

HD4850 LEDs

D1601 - Over temp protection enabled

D1602 - EXT 12V fault


HD4870 LEDs

D1601 - Red LED On, shows critical temperature fault

D1602 - Red LED On, shows External power connector A was removed

D1603 - Red LED On, shows External power connector B was removed

D601 - Red LED On, shows critical Core power fault
Click to expand...

Where's the LED display for "The drivers are sh!t"

Those would have to be long life bulbs.
 
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